Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  Chapter XII

  WHEN they alighted in front of the arbiter's house, the chief of theatrium answered them that of slaves sent to the gates none had returnedyet. The atriensis had given orders to take food to them, and a newcommand, that under penalty of rods they were to watch carefully all wholeft the city.

  "Thou seest," said Petronius, "that they are in Rome, beyond doubt, andin that case we shall find them. But command thy people also to watchat the gates,--those, namely, who were sent for Lygia, as they willrecognize her easily."

  "I have given orders to send them to rural prisons," said Vinicius, "butI will recall the orders at once, and let them go to the gates."

  And writing a few words on a wax-covered tablet, he handed it toPetronius, who gave directions to send it at once to the house ofVinicius. Then they passed into the interior portico, and, sitting ona marble bench, began to talk. The golden-haired Eunice and Iras pushedbronze footstools under their feet, and poured wine for them intogoblets, out of wonderful narrow-necked pitchers from Volaterrae andCaecina.

  "Hast thou among thy people any one who knows that giant Lygian?" askedPetronius.

  "Atacinus and Gulo knew him; but Atacinus fell yesterday at the litter,and Gulo I killed."

  "I am sorry for him," said Petronius. "He carried not only thee, but me,in his arms."

  "I intended to free him," answered Vinicius; "but do not mention him.Let us speak of Lygia. Rome is a sea-"

  "A sea is just the place where men fish for pearls. Of course we shallnot find her to-day, or to-morrow, but we shall find her surely. Thouhast accused me just now of giving thee this method; but the method wasgood in itself, and became bad only when turned to bad. Thou hast heardfrom Aulus himself, that he intends to go to Sicily with his wholefamily. In that case the girl would be far from thee."

  "I should follow them," said Vinicius, "and in every case she would beout of danger; but now, if that child dies, Poppaea will believe, andwill persuade Caesar, that she died because of Lygia."

  "True; that alarmed me, too. But that little doll may recover. Shouldshe die, we shall find some way of escape."

  Here Petronius meditated a while and added,--"Poppaea, it is said,follows the religion of the Jews, and believes in evil spirits. Caesaris superstitious. If we spread the report that evil spirits carried offLygia, the news will find belief, especially as neither Caesar nor AulusPlautius intercepted her; her escape was really mysterious. The Lygiancould not have effected it alone; he must have had help. And where coulda slave find so many people in the course of one day?"

  "Slaves help one another in Rome."

  "Some person pays for that with blood at times. True, they support oneanother, but not some against others. In this case it was known thatresponsibility and punishment would fall on thy people. If thou givethy people the idea of evil spirits, they will say at once that they sawsuch with their own eyes, because that will justify them in thy sight.Ask one of them, as a test, if he did not see spirits carrying off Lygiathrough the air, he will swear at once by the aegis of Zeus that he sawthem."

  Vinicius, who was superstitious also, looked at Petronius with suddenand great fear.

  "If Ursus could not have men to help him, and was not able to take heralone, who could take her?"

  Petronius began to laugh.

  "See," said he, "they will believe, since thou art half a believerthyself. Such is our society, which ridicules the gods. They, too, willbelieve, and they will not look for her. Meanwhile we shall put her awaysomewhere far off from the city, in some villa of mine or thine."

  "But who could help her?"

  "Her co-religionists," answered Petronius.

  "Who are they? What deity does she worship? I ought to know that betterthan thou."

  "Nearly every woman in Rome honors a different one. It is almost beyonddoubt that Pomponia reared her in the religion of that deity whichshe herself worships; what one she worships I know not. One thing iscertain, that no person has seen her make an offering to our gods in anytemple. They have accused her even of being a Christian; but that is notpossible; a domestic tribunal cleared her of the charge. They say thatChristians not only worship an ass's head, but are enemies of the humanrace, and permit the foulest crimes. Pomponia cannot be a Christian,as her virtue is known, and an enemy of the human race could not treatslaves as she does."

  "In no house are they treated as at Aulus's," interrupted Vinicius.

  "Ah! Pomponia mentioned to me some god, who must be one powerful andmerciful. Where she has put away all the others is her affair; it isenough that that Logos of hers cannot be very mighty, or rather he mustbe a very weak god, since he has had only two adherents,--Pomponia andLygia,--and Ursus in addition. It must be that there are more of thoseadherents, and that they assisted Lygia."

  "That faith commands forgiveness," said Vinicius. "At Acte's I metPomponia, who said to me: 'May God forgive thee the evil which thou hastdone to us and to Lygia.'"

  "Evidently their God is some curator who is very mild. Ha! let himforgive thee, and in sign of forgiveness return thee the maiden."

  "I would offer him a hecatomb to-morrow! I have no wish for food, or thebath, or sleep. I will take a dark lantern and wander through the city.Perhaps I shall find her in disguise. I am sick."

  Petronius looked at him with commiseration. In fact, there was blueunder his eyes, his pupils were gleaming with fever, his unshaven beardindicated a dark strip on his firmly outlined jaws, his hair was indisorder, and he was really like a sick man. Iras and the golden-hairedEunice looked at him also with sympathy; but he seemed not to see them,and he and Petronius took no notice whatever of the slave women, just asthey would not have noticed dogs moving around them.

  "Fever is tormenting thee," said Petronius.

  "It is."

  "Then listen to me. I know not what the doctor has prescribed to thee,but I know how I should act in thy place. Till this lost one is found Ishould seek in another that which for the moment has gone from me withher. I saw splendid forms at thy villa. Do not contradict me. I knowwhat love is; and I know that when one is desired another cannottake her place. But in a beautiful slave it is possible to find evenmomentary distraction."

  "I do not need it," said Vinicius.

  But Petronius, who had for him a real weakness, and who wished to softenhis pain, began to meditate how he might do so.

  "Perhaps thine have not for thee the charm of novelty," said he, after awhile (and here he began to look in turn at Iras and Eunice, and finallyhe placed his palm on the hip of the golden-haired Eunice). "Lookat this grace! for whom some days since Fonteius Capiton the youngeroffered three wonderful boys from Clazomene. A more beautiful figurethan hers even Skopas himself has not chiselled. I myself cannot tellwhy I have remained indifferent to her thus far, since thoughts ofChrysothemis have not restrained me. Well, I give her to thee; take herfor thyself!"

  When the golden-haired Eunice heard this, she grew pale in one moment,and, looking with frightened eyes on Vinicius, seemed to wait for hisanswer without breath in her breast.

  But he sprang up suddenly, and, pressing his temples with his hands,said quickly, like a man who is tortured by disease, and will not hearanything,--"No, no! I care not for her! I care not for others! I thankthee, but I do not want her. I will seek that one through the city. Givecommand to bring me a Gallic cloak with a hood. I will go beyond theTiber--if I could see even Ursus."

  And he hurried away. Petronius, seeing that he could not remain in oneplace, did not try to detain him. Taking, however, his refusal as atemporary dislike for all women save Lygia, and not wishing his ownmagnanimity to go for naught, he said, turning to the slave,--"Eunice,thou wilt bathe and anoint thyself, then dress: after that thou wilt goto the house of Vinicius."

  But she dropped before him on her knees, and with joined palms imploredhim not to remove her from the house. She would not go to Vinicius, shesaid. She would rather carry fuel to the hypocaustum in his house thanbe chief servant in that of Viniciu
s. She would not, she could not go;and she begged him to have pity on her. Let him give command to flog herdaily, only not send her away.

  And trembling like a leaf with fear and excitement, she stretched herhands to him, while he listened with amazement. A slave who ventured tobeg relief from the fulfilment of a command, who said "I will not andI cannot," was something so unheard-of in Rome that Petronius could notbelieve his own ears at first. Finally he frowned. He was too refinedto be cruel. His slaves, especially in the department of pleasure,were freer than others, on condition of performing their service in anexemplary manner, and honoring the will of their master, like that of agod. In case they failed in these two respects, he was able not to sparepunishment, to which, according to general custom, they were subject.Since, besides this, he could not endure opposition, nor anything whichruffled his calmness, he looked for a while at the kneeling girl, andthen said,--"Call Tiresias, and return with him."

  Eunice rose, trembling, with tears in her eyes, and went out; after atime she returned with the chief of the atrium, Tiresias, a Cretan.

  "Thou wilt take Eunice," said Petronius, "and give her five-and-twentylashes, in such fashion, however, as not to harm her skin."

  When he had said this, he passed into the library, and, sitting downat a table of rose-colored marble, began to work on his "Feast ofTrimalchion." But the flight of Lygia and the illness of the infantAugusta had disturbed his mind so much that he could not work long. Thatillness, above all, was important. It occurred to Petronius thatwere Caesar to believe that Lygia had cast spells on the infant, theresponsibility might fall on him also, for the girl had been broughtat his request to the palace. But he could reckon on this, that at thefirst interview with Caesar he would be able in some way to show theutter absurdity of such an idea; he counted a little, too, on a certainweakness which Poppaea had for him,--a weakness hidden carefully, it istrue, but not so carefully that he could not divine it. After a whilehe shrugged his shoulders at these fears, and decided to go to thetriclinium to strengthen himself, and then order the litter to bear himonce more to the palace, after that to the Campus Martius, and then toChrysothemis.

  But on the way to the triclinium at the entrance to the corridorassigned to servants, he saw unexpectedly the slender form of Eunicestanding, among other slaves, at the wall; and forgetting that he hadgiven Tiresias no order beyond flogging her, he wrinkled his brow again,and looked around for the atriensis. Not seeing him among the servants,he turned to Eunice.

  "Hast thou received the lashes?"

  She cast herself at his feet a second time, pressed the border of histoga to her lips, and said,--"Oh, yes, lord, I have received them! Oh,yes, lord!" In her voice were heard, as it were, joy and gratitude. Itwas clear that she looked on the lashes as a substitute for her removalfrom the house, and that now she might stay there. Petronius, whounderstood this, wondered at the passionate resistance of the girl; buthe was too deeply versed in human nature not to know that love alonecould call forth such resistance.

  "Dost thou love some one in this house?" asked he.

  She raised her blue, tearful eyes to him, and answered, in a voice solow that it was hardly possible to hear her,--"Yes, lord."

  And with those eyes, with that golden hair thrown back, with fearand hope in her face, she was so beautiful, she looked at him soentreatingly, that Petronius, who, as a philosopher, had proclaimed themight of love, and who, as a man of aesthetic nature, had given homage toall beauty, felt for her a certain species of compassion.

  "Whom of those dost thou love?" inquired he, indicating the servantswith his head.

  There was no answer to that question. Eunice inclined her head to hisfeet and remained motionless.

  Petronius looked at the slaves, among whom were beautiful and statelyyouths. He could read nothing on any face; on the contrary, all hadcertain strange smiles. He looked then for a while on Eunice lying athis feet, and went in silence to the triclinium.

  After he had eaten, he gave command to bear him to the palace, and thento Chrysothemis, with whom he remained till late at night. But when hereturned, he gave command to call Tiresias.

  "Did Eunice receive the flogging?" inquired he.

  "She did, lord. Thou didst not let the skin be cut, however."

  "Did I give no other command touching her?"

  "No, lord," answered the atriensis with alarm.

  "That is well. Whom of the slaves does she love?"

  "No one, lord."

  "What dost thou know of her?"

  Tiresias began to speak in a somewhat uncertain voice:

  "At night Eunice never leaves the cubiculum in which she lives withold Acrisiona and Ifida; after thou art dressed she never goes to thebath-rooms. Other slaves ridicule her, and call her Diana."

  "Enough," said Petronius. "My relative, Vinicius, to whom I offered herto-day, did not accept her; hence she may stay in the house. Thou artfree to go."

  "Is it permitted me to speak more of Eunice, lord?"

  "I have commanded thee to say all thou knowest."

  "The whole familia are speaking of the flight of the maiden who was todwell in the house of the noble Vinicius. After thy departure, Eunicecame to me and said that she knew a man who could find her."

  "Ah! What kind of man is he?"

  "I know not, lord; but I thought that I ought to inform thee of thismatter."

  "That is well. Let that man wait to-morrow in my house for the arrivalof the tribune, whom thou wilt request in my name to meet me here."

  The atriensis bowed and went out. But Petronius began to think ofEunice. At first it seemed clear to him that the young slave wishedVinicius to find Lygia for this reason only, that she would not beforced from his house. Afterward, however, it occurred to him that theman whom Eunice was pushing forward might be her lover, and all at oncethat thought seemed to him disagreeable. There was, it is true, a simpleway of learning the truth, for it was enough to summon Eunice; butthe hour was late, Petronius felt tired after his long visit withChrysothemis, and was in a hurry to sleep. But on the way to thecubiculum he remembered--it is unknown why--that he had noticedwrinkles, that day, in the corners of Chrysothemis's eyes. He thought,also, that her beauty was more celebrated in Rome than it deserved; andthat Fonteius Capiton, who had offered him three boys from Clazomene forEunice, wanted to buy her too cheaply.